Every Member of an Armed Mob Can Be Punished for Murder If the Mob Shared the Common Object to Kill or Cause Deadly Violence
Case Name: Mahendra Rai @ Harendra Narain Singh and Ors. etc. v. The State of Bihar
Citation: 2026 INSC 560
Date of Judgment/Order: May 26, 2026
Bench: Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswar Singh
Held: The Supreme Court held that once the common object of an unlawful assembly is proved, every member of that assembly becomes vicariously liable under Section 149 IPC for offences committed in prosecution of that common object. In a case where a large armed mob surrounds a house, sets it on fire, chases fleeing victims and assaults them with deadly weapons, the plea that some accused were merely present or were innocent spectators cannot be accepted when the evidence shows their participation in different stages of the occurrence. The Court reaffirmed that common object can be inferred from the conduct of the mob, the weapons carried, the manner of attack, the nature of injuries and the collective acts committed during the incident.
Summary: The case arose from a brutal incident dated 29.03.1983 at Village Jamalpur Kodai, District Muzaffarpur, Bihar, where a mob of around 58 persons allegedly surrounded and set fire to the house of Chandra Shekhar Choudhary during Holi, resulting in the death of five persons and injuries to several others, including women and children. The prosecution alleged that the mob was armed with lathis, bhala, garasa and farsa, and that after the house was set ablaze, the victims who attempted to escape were chased and assaulted. The then Circle Officer, Jagannath Ravidas, was separately accused of abetting the crime by forcibly taking away the licensed gun and revolver of deceased Mahanth Indradeo Jyoti, thereby disarming the victims and emboldening the mob. The Trial Court convicted the accused under Sections 302/149, 436/149, 147, 148, 379, 323 and 324 IPC, while the High Court affirmed the conviction after re-appreciating the evidence. The Supreme Court noted that several injured eyewitnesses, including PW-2, PW-4, PW-5, PW-34, PW-35, PW-37, PW-38 and PW-40, consistently proved the attack, and their evidence was corroborated by independent witnesses and medical evidence. The Court also noted that the High Court had carefully tabulated the role of surviving accused persons in setting the house on fire, remaining present in the armed mob and participating in assault and lynching.
Decision: The Supreme Court dismissed the appeals and upheld the concurrent findings of conviction and sentence recorded by the Trial Court and affirmed by the Patna High Court. The Court rejected the contention that some appellants were mere spectators and held that the evidence established active participation by the accused in surrounding the house, setting it on fire, chasing the victims and assaulting them with lethal weapons. The Court also upheld the findings against accused Jagannath Ravidas for abetting the offence by disarming the victims at a crucial stage. The surviving accused persons, except those granted the benefit of juvenility, were directed to surrender forthwith before the Trial Court to serve the remaining sentence, and their bail bonds, if any, were cancelled. Pending applications were disposed of.